The First Meeting
by lokegray89
Summary: The day that team 8 is going to get together for the first time Hinata arrives early. Thinking about if she really belongs on that team, Kiba shows up and scares her.


It was the first day we were going to be getting together in our teams. Thankfully, I won't have to work with Naruto. Who knows what would happen if we had to work together. I would probably end up fainting every few minutes. At first, I was disappointed because I wouldn't be able to spend any time with Naruto, then I realized I would be useless and would cause more problems for the team. I guess it's a good thing I was put together with Kiba and Shino.

I arrived early for out first meeting. Nobody was supposed to be here for another hour or two. I wasn't really paying attention to the time, I had no real reason to. I sat at the base of a tree and looked into the clearing. There really wasn't alot to look at. Basically just an empty field with a few posts and a small sand pit. A strong wind blew by. I heard leaves rustle and saw the grass wave. My short hair tickled my ears and cheeks. It was still dark. Why I decided to come this early? I have no idea.

I sighed, "Why did I come this early?"

"I think that's the loudest I've ever heard you." I froze. I wasn't expecting any sort of response. There was no one just a few moments ago.

"What's the matter? Now that you know you aren't alone, you just not gonna talk or something?" His voice was still steady, but slightly louder than before. I had to answer.

"No, um... You just scared me is all, Kiba." I looked up at him. He seemed to be without his eternal companion, Akamaru. He was dressed in his usual clothing. The grey jacket which had a fur-lined hood and brown pants. His hood was up hiding his shaggy brown hair. There were only two things that seemed at all different. How quiet and calm he was being, and his jacket was undone revealing a shirt like Shikamaru's.

"Didn't mean to." I think that was an apology...?

"It's fine."

Silence.

"Where is Akamaru?"

"At home. Sleeping. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. Decided to go for a walk."

"Why are you over here then?"

"Like I said, I was walking. I ended up here. No real reason."

"I see."

More silence.

"Why are you here so early, Hinata?"

"I decided last night I wanted to be here early."

"It isn't even dawn yet."

"Yes, I know that." We both sounded bored, but, it was better than sitting in silence.

"Most of the time when people say they want to be somewhere early, they mean fifteen, twenty minutes sometimes half an hour. You are sitting in the dark, alone almost two hours early." He said this as if he was trying to figure out a complex equation.

"You're wrong." I said simply.

"Oh yeah! How?" Now he just seems upset at being told he was wrong. It does happen. Some people more often than others.

"I'm not alone. You're here. Otherwise, I am insane for imagining I am talking to you. Further insane for answering."

"Well, who knew the shy and quiet Hinata Hyuuga actually had enough of a backbone to talk with some snarkiness without stuttering?" He squatted in front of me as he said this, no longer sounding upset, he even had a smile on his face. He looked almost proud.

I felt a small blush creeping its way onto my face from how close we were. If he leaned forward just a bit, his chest would be pressed against my knees, which I had bent in front of me. All I have to do is reach out in front of me and I could touch his face, his hair, him. The blush grew as I realised what I was thinking. Bad Hinata. You like Naruto. The reason why this squad would work is because you wouldn't faint every time the guy you liked simply looked at you... Great, now I'm disciplining myself in my mind. Maybe Kiba really isn't here and I am insane.

"Hey, what's with that blush?"

I looked at him and saw the sun beginning to rise behind him. No wonder he could see my blush. I also noticed that he was slowly leaning forward. He stopped at my knees and brought his hand up and touched my forehead. I felt my blush grow even warmer. He let his had sit there a moment before saying, "Well, you haven't got a fever." I sighed. Are all boys this dense? I shook his hand away and he rested it on my leg. He looked almost as if he was hugging my legs.

We just sat this way for I don't know how long. My blush wasn't as noticeable now. I felt comfortable with him there. He moved a bit now and then. He was now sitting cross-legged still leaning on my knees. For a while he had his arms on my knees and his head resting on his arms. I probably would have started playing with his hair if he wasn't looking at me. At one point his knee rubbed a little too high on my leg, he looked at me a little guiltily with a tiny blush hinting his cheeks. I just looked away pretending nothing happened. He relaxed against my legs again, but the blush was still there. Every so often he tapped his fingers. During all this I noticed that he always was moving a small part of his body. Never perfectly still. Sometimes even groaning. Mainly only when he moved his arms or straightened his back or stretching after staying in one position for a long period of time.

Right now he just sat there watching me, as if trying to figure something out. He looked like he was hugging my legs again, but, had his back straight, somehow still leaning on my knees.

"You haven't moved. You haven't adjusted your weight. You haven't even twitched. You have only moved your head. How haven't you moved anything else at all?" He said this rather loudly and it made me tense since I wasn't expecting it through all the silence.

He looked apologetic for frightening me, and still looked expectant for an answer.

"In my family, there are many ceremonies where a person isn't allowed to move a millimeter, if they do they are scolded and, in some cases, severely punished. After so many times, one learns not to move, even if it causes them pain." He processed the information and accepted as a good reason.

"Are you in pain now? From staying still for so long, I mean?" That was something I wasn't expecting. His voice sounded angry and concerned, but he kept his voice level.

"No, I'm not. This is a very comfortable position to sit in for long periods."

"You are allowed to move, you know?" He calmed a bit, though his voice still sounded slightly bitter.

"Yes, why wouldn't I?"

"'Cause you haven't since you first sat down."

"Because I am comfortable. What if I move and it isn't comfortable? I'll have to keep readjusting. It's easier just to stay like this."

"I see your point, I just don't get it. Move an arm or something every once in a while. No problem with that. You'd still be comfy, but not be a statue. This isn't one of your family's ceremonies. It's just me and you. You are allowed to move, so move!" Throughout all of it he slowly got louder. I looked at him shocked. I had no idea what to say.

He didn't expect an answer of words, though. He just wanted me to move. When I didn't, he looked away from me into the field and brought one of his arms up and put his chin in his hand and his elbow on my knee. I suddenly felt an urge. An overpowering urge. I have no idea where it came from. It was just there. I had to. I brought up my arm slowly and carefully so he wouldn't know. I started to lean forward so I could get closer. My hand slowly made its way to him and... I couldn't help it... But I... I poked his cheek.

I froze. He froze. We stayed that way for a few minutes. No movement. Not until Kiba slowly pulled his head away from my finger and slowly turned to face me. I also slowly leaned back against the tree and brought my hand back down. He looked at me completely shocked at what I did. After a few moments of him looking at me like that, I smiled. He relaxed and grinned toothily. Suddenly something fell from the tree into my lap.

"Akamaru!" Both me and Kiba said with some surprise that there was an unexpected puppy between us. Akamaru just looked at the two of us and curled up on my stomach. I instantly started petting the dog.

"Akamaru," The young ninja hound lifted his head and wagged his tail at his masters voice, "you shouldn't jump onto people without some signal first."

Akamaru stood up, looking upset, and climbed up my chest and layed down again with his head on my shoulder.

"Don't you ignore me, Akamaru." Kiba's voice was stern.

"Kiba, he's fine. He's small, so it didn't hurt at all." Kiba calmed himself and Akamaru started wagging his tail and licked my jaw just below my ear. Unfortunately, I began to imagine Kiba doing that, instead of Akamaru. I got an extremely deep blush on my cheeks.

"Hinata, your face is going red again. Are you okay?" Kiba's hand was being pressed against my forehead again. He made a face and turned his hand over and held it to my cheeks. "Your cheeks are warm, but your forehead is cold. Maybe your just too hot."

"What? No, I'm fine, Kiba. I promise."

"Are you sure? I could walk you home." I cringed at that. He saw it. "Or you could come to my place. We could both miss today." He looked completely serious.

"Kiba, I promise." His shoulders relaxed a bit, but, he didn't look completely convinced. "If I promise not to over do anything today, will you stop being so worried?"

He didn't say anything, just looked at me as if to say 'not completely' which was good enough for me. "Then, I promise I won't over do it today."

He was very relaxed now. Almost asleep on my knees. He had his head down again, only this time he wasn't watching me. I had to at least feel it. His hair. It looked in complete disarray, but, at the same time it looked like it was neat and well done. What if he asks what I'm doing? What would I say? I can't just say 'I wanted to feel your hair, Kiba.' I guess I could tell him that I was fixing it. He'd probably just say there's nothing to fix.

A few moments later I heard a soft sigh. I looked at Kiba. My hand was petting his hair! I didn't even realise. I pulled my hand away. I got mad at myself for even thinking about petting him, as well as actually petting him.

"Why'd you stop?" My mind blanked at the sound of his voice.

"What do you mean?" I tried to act as if I had no idea what he was talking about.

"My hair. Why'd you stop petting it?" Of course that never works unless there is other people to blame it on, excluding Akamaru since he doesn't have hands.

"You mean, you don't mind?" It had to be asked.

"Why would I?"

"Because I'm someone you barely even know, only ever started talking to today."

"And you are letting me lay on your legs." That is a good point. "Besides, you never really spoke to anyone." That's also true. "I think I know you better than anyone else."

I didn't answer. I just put my hand back on his head and played with his hair. He didn't say anything else. He fell asleep after not too long. I started to fall asleep as well.

This was the right team for me.


End file.
